Into the Sunset
by Jessica314
Summary: Ten years after Breaking Dawn, Jasper's life is fuller than he ever could have imagined. But there's one dream he's kept close to his heart all this time: to ride a horse again. One-shot.


**I've been wanting to write this one for a while, and my muse felt like it was time for something fluffy and sweet. Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Colorado**

 **Ten years after Breaking Dawn**

 **Jasper POV**

It was strange enough that Renesmee and Jacob had invited Alice and me out to their place to hunt, and nobody else. But the real mystery was Alice's level of anticipation.

"No, no! The blue one!" She snatched the shirt I had chosen out of my hands, instantly replacing it with one of her twenty-seven favorite shirts and looking up at me with the golden eyes she knew I couldn't resist. "Please?"

I side-grinned and reached back up into the closet without looking, letting my fingers rest on a button-down dress shirt that I knew would offend her color scheme for today. "What'll you give me?"

The next thing I knew she had me scrunched into the darkest corner of the closet, pinning me to the wall with a kiss. "I'll give you _nothing_ if you don't wear it," she threatened softly, her voice tickling my ear. I closed my eyes for just a second, reveling in her desire, then donned the blue shirt.

"You're a tough negotiator, ma'am," I grumbled cheerfully, following her into the bathroom. She was already rummaging deep into her "blue tones" makeup bag. I folded my arms and leaned against the wall for a time, watching with amusement as her excitement bubbled over into a fever pitch. Gift or not, the fact that she was doing her makeup at human speed was a dead giveaway.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So what's the surprise?"

She glanced at me in the mirror. "There's no surprise, why?"

I smiled at her reflection and pulled away from the wall, swaggering closer. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, bending to kiss the side of her neck. "You're a terrible liar," I said in her ear, willing her to relax. "That's one of the things I love most about you, you know."

"I know," she said lightly, wringing one hand free to finish her makeup.

"What's the surprise?" I asked again, pulling at her resistance more with every second.

She ignored me at first, but then spun around in my arms. "Don't you dare! Nessie's been working on this for... hmph." She clamped her mouth shut, growling deep in her throat.

I chuckled, releasing her fully. "Well now we're getting somewhere."

"And you're _really_ going to love it, so no more cheating, if you please."

Her excitement softened, blending with some of the ingredients her love for me was made of, and I answered silently. We rested our palms together and then pulled them away, leaving only our fingertips touching. We merely stared for what felt like our own private eternity, making love in that deeper language that barely requires any touch at all. I finally drew her closer.

"I put on the blue shirt," I reminded her solemnly. She reached up in slow motion to finger the collar, lifting her face to ask for a kiss.

"So you did."

.

.

.

We took the Ducati out to Renesmee and Jacob's place. It was still running like it had when it was new... better, actually. Rosalie had kept up her usual regimen, and I had made a few adjustments myself. This had to be the best bike I had ever owned, and I had owned quite a few over the years. It handled "like a dream," as Rosalie liked to put it, and as a scrambler, it couldn't be beat.

I had never much liked riding inside a regular vehicle. Everything was too cramped, too crowded, and far too loud and smelly. And if you wanted to go off road, then what? Motorcycles were as close as I'd ever get to being on horseback again. Give me a vehicle that springs to life at the lightest touch. That leaves me feeling free, leaves the stink of the machinery far behind. There wasn't much to be done about the noise, but the Ducati purred like a cougar, and that was good enough for me.

I'd tried the real thing a couple of times—riding a horse—once when I was new and once after switching to animal blood. The first attempt went pretty badly, since I was still so wild. The horse spooked almost immediately, which made me all the more desperate to make it work. It went downhill from there, ending in a classic newborn temper tantrum that left me with a dead horse, two dead "siblings," and a lot of explaining to do.

I decided to try again back in the seventies when I was out alone one day. According to Peter, my scent had mellowed somewhat by the time he and Charlotte first met the family in '69. His theory was that the animal diet was diluting my scent along with my strength... according to him, a sure sign of a bad end to come. Of how it just wasn't meant to be. Well, I hadn't noticed myself smelling any different, and even if I did, Carlisle had all kinds of theories about how our scents worked themselves out physiologically. It wasn't necessarily the blood. Regardless, I figured that if Peter was right, then I might have better luck with the horse thing.

So I tried again. I even waited until the clouds had winked out the direct sunlight, just in case that had been part of the problem before. I took my time inching closer, and at first it seemed all right, but when I was within twenty feet the horse started sidestepping away. Every time I moved, it moved. I finally gave up and made a jump for it. For a few exciting rodeo moments I thought it was going to work out, but it didn't. The horse quieted, but its heart rate was dangerously high, and it was shivering in terror. Never mind going anywhere. I finally took pity on the poor thing and made myself scarce.

Alice had never said anything about it. I still didn't know if she had been watching right then. But I had told her, back in those first couple of years alone together, how much I missed riding. She hadn't really understood. How could she? It really was a shame, though. What I wouldn't _give_ to ride again. To fly past the horizon with the feel of the wind in my hair... the soft drumbeat of hooves the only sound in the whole world. To feel that synergy my horse Patch and I had felt in my human days, how we would become one in a sense, almost reading each other's thoughts, whether we were saving each other's lives in battle or just racing toward the sunset. The friendship, even. Many of my most vivid human memories were of Patch: bringing him into the world just as the mare died, riding alone or with the others, or whispering my worries and dreams to him in the moonlight when the rest of my regiment was asleep.

I had asked Maria, after that first attempt, if she thought we could transform horses. She said she had tried changing a couple animals before, but that it hadn't worked. It had been of our friendlier conversations, laughing over the possibilities: red-eyed horses leaping over buildings, cute little rabbits who could take down a human, wrestling matches with vampire alligators, things like that. But the bottom line was that I'd never ride again, and that was a hard blow.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" Alice scolded me, anxiously holding herself out to the right as I took a curve at an ungodly speed. I guess my reminiscing had been playing itself out. I laughed and gunned it into the next curve. She shrieked and leaned out in the opposite direction—as if her weight would do anything! She wasn't scared of going off the cliff or wrecking the bike; she was afraid I'd ruin her outfit before Renesmee got to see it. But she loved it, too. We both did.

"Maybe," I admitted, not at all sorry. This was as close as I'd ever get to my wish: even more than the riding itself, _this_ was what I wanted. To feel her snug behind me as I rode, gripping her slender arms around me, lining her legs up with mine as we explored whatever was over the next hill. To feel her pressing closer when she decided to get scared, even shrieking in my ear to slow down when we both knew she wanted me to go faster.

I finally left the road to cut the last corner off our trip, earning myself another round of scolding when the mud finally found us. I thought, for just a second, about risking the little ridge off to the west that would give us a particularly beautiful view of Renesmee's property, but it really was too steep and too muddy today. I didn't want to push my luck, particularly when it came to muddying The Outfit, because there'd be hell to pay. It was the latest of Alice's creations that would be kicking off her new online boutique. Renesmee was only the website manager, but that didn't stop her from chattering over designs with her boss.

This was the first time Renesmee and Jacob had lived apart from the family. When they had first married back in Oregon, Esme had presented them with a cottage that was the twin of the new one she had built for Edward and Bella. But when we had moved here to Colorado they had decided to live a little closer to town than we cared to, and it was obvious they wanted a little more space from everyone. Jacob, especially, had been itching to open his own garage. Half his customers were from out of town anyway, bringing their rusty old classics for restoration, but he still preferred that small-town feel of having plenty of business on a first-name basis.

We slowed as we passed the row of farms next to theirs. The air was filled with the rich aromas of growing crops and animals, as well as the accompanying humans. I swallowed the venom, reminding myself that I had gone almost twenty years now... a new record. Besides, I didn't think Renesmee would appreciate me snacking on her neighbors. She and Jacob were actually _friends_ with them.

Her property finally came into view. They had bought an abandoned farm at the end of the road, situated just past the end of the pavement. Easy directions for the human guests to remember, and it was less than a quarter mile from the edge of the woods. I took a deep sniff over toward the trees to see what my dinner might be, but the farm smells were too overwhelming. To say nothing of the ripe stink of werewolf. My longing to visit the next-door-neighbors to borrow a cup of blood was gone instantly.

The buildings seemed to be in pretty good shape, thanks to Esme, no doubt. Alice and I were the last ones to come out here. We hadn't meant to wait so long, but whenever we had tried to plan a visit, things had kept coming up. But they usually came over to see everyone at once anyway.

I wondered what this surprise was. I wasn't usually the one getting presents; everyone knew I didn't like collecting useless junk. Knowing Renesmee, it was probably a trip to see some little piece of history she had discovered: a preserved 19th-century log cabin, a little out-of-the-way museum, maybe something to do with one of the Native American tribes that used to live here.

Renesmee and I had a special bond, going back to her second year. I hadn't known what to do with her when she was a baby, and truth be told, I was still watchful for something to go wrong. She was all kinds of unnatural. Each time she had one of those impossible growth spurts, physical or mental, my instincts had shivered even as I smiled along with everyone else... and I wasn't the only one. We were well past the danger of Bella giving birth to a monster, but that didn't mean everything would be smooth sailing from then on out, especially when it came to her self-control. But like the others, I was consistently blown away by how well things were going. There would be problems later on when she hit age six, but nothing outrageous.

Still, in that first year, I hadn't interacted with her too much. I wasn't really the dolls-and-tea-party type of uncle, even if those tea parties including giggly recitations of Georgian-era literature. And she had changed a little after the confrontation with the Volturi; nearly having your whole family executed because of your existence will do that to a kid. She wasn't afraid of me after that, exactly, but my scars were an uncomfortable reminder that I had once belonged to the darker side of the vampire world... the one she had brushed a little too closely against. I often caught her staring at them. And though I tried not to do it, she had sometimes caught me hanging back when the others gathered close and fussed and cooed over her latest stroke of genius. I think she knew that I was generally a little less safe than the others, even then.

But she had also won my heart, there was no denying it. Ever since meeting Alice, my life had been one of good surprises, and the fact that my niece could even exist was just the latest one. But it was more than that; she seemed to have a way of thinking and feeling that full vampires didn't. I could sometimes feel her backtracking as she soaked up new knowledge, so easily rearranging her opinions and feelings about things. She belonged in so many different worlds all at once... it gave her a unique ability to see different perspectives and react accordingly, and I admired that. That, more than anything, was what finally put me at ease when it came to her future. Renesmee seemed to notice the change, and began asking me to do little things with her: teach her to play chess, explain a word in a book she was reading, come hunting when it was just her and Bella. That last one was a little sad, because I could feel the anxiety behind her request, but I was happy to grant it. And there was something irresistible about a kid of _any_ species tugging on your shirtsleeve, silently asking you to bend down so she could ask you a question via her telepathic gift.

Then one evening, when we happened to be alone in the living room, I had caught her studying me in that tilted-head puzzlement that all our kind tended towards. I asked her what was on her mind, and, after a few moments of thought and indecision, she said she had been wondering if I had owned any slaves back when I was human.

I was a little taken aback, because it was a topic that didn't come up often. History was certainly one of my favorite pastimes, and we were all old enough for our own memories to qualify as "history," so there was often plenty of chatter in the house about various eras and countries and movements and things. There were some taboo items, based on personal prerogative and on the fact that there was a child listening now. My participation in the Civil War wasn't really one of them, but by this point it had all been said, and the others had usually tiptoed around the messier parts of my past. I didn't see the point, but it made them more comfortable, so I let it be. Carlisle was usually the one I was discussing history at length with anyway, and those discussions were usually theoretical.

So I was impressed, as adults often are with children, that she had skipped right over the rules and flat out asked me what she wanted to know. I responded in kind, launching into an hour-long lecture about cultural incapacity and its ugly role in American history... and in my own. She listened without interruption, soaking it all in until Edward finally came downstairs, radiating disapproval and telling Renesmee it was past her bedtime.

"She's just a child," he muttered under his breath when she had gone upstairs to tell everyone goodnight. "Couldn't you have toned it down a bit?"

"She's never been _just_ a child," I shot back, loud enough for her to hear. "Give her some credit."

I had officially won Renesmee's trust that night: trust that I wouldn't baby her like the others did sometimes, at least when it came to answering her questions. Whenever she realized that something was being kept from her, or felt smothered by the village that was raising her, I was quick to take her side. Sometimes, in her older years, I was the one to find her when she had run off for a cry, to sit in companionable silence until she was ready to talk, if she wanted to. When it was a true matter of safety, I would sometimes turn traitor to the cause, but I was usually forgiven.

Back in the months that had followed after that first evening lecture, Renesmee's play-learning evolved into more organized studies. Each member of the family, and occasionally some of the Quileutes, took over the tutoring in various subjects: science with Carlisle, art with Alice, literature with Bella, and so on. I took on history and sociology. That second year of her life—our last in Forks—was a special time for the family, where most of us physically retreated from the human world to focus on what was truly important.

But that time also brought us closer to the human world, in a way, as we all scrambled to more fully understand the subjects we were supposedly experts in. I had already enjoyed reading about world history, but now I was obliged to get caught up and take more than a passing interest in current affairs for her sake. And while I still couldn't muster much enthusiasm beyond the theoretical for myself, it was a wonder to watch her sponge-like little mind unfold and open to understand the larger world she lived in. To help form that understanding... help prepare her to become a part of that world when the time was right. Renesmee would have both the freedom and the desire to move freely out in that world, and to truly be a part of it in her own way. She would always be a part of the family, and in some ways the center of that family, but she was also half-human. She belonged in their world as much as she did in ours. Even now, she was just beginning to spread those wings. The property she and Jacob had taken, technically in town but on the edge, was a pretty accurate representation of that commencement.

"Hey guys!" she called from the front door as we walked up. She leapt off the porch and dashed up to meet us, her Edward-colored curls bouncing to keep up with her. I smiled to feel her unique love and stood back while she and Alice did their usual high-pitched fussing over hair, clothes, etc., and then I got my hug. She was being careful not to touch my skin. She squeezed me an extra second, then pulled away with a mischievous grin. "We've got a surprise for you, Jazz."

"For me?" I echoed, feigning a double take.

"Liar," she pouted, turning to Alice. "You told him, didn't you?"

Alice shook her head, glaring up at me. "No, but he did weasel it out of me that the surprise was from you."

"Shame," Renesmee scolded me, sliding over to Alice's side in conspiracy. "I think we should make him wait just for that, don't you?"

"No way," Alice protested. "You know I can't keep a secret this big for very long."

Now they really had me interested. A quick trip to a historical site didn't qualify as a _big_ surprise. I reached for Renesmee's hand to sneak a peek into her mind, moving slowly enough for her to dart away if she chose, which she did.

"Oh no you don't! Dinner first. JAKE!" she called back toward the barn. Alice and I followed her over to where Jacob was just closing up shop. I recognized Esme's handiwork, since she had worked on the blueprints and sketches back at home when she had been restoring the barn. Jacob closed the hood of a sparkling black Mustang and raised a grimy hand in greeting.

"Hey bloodsuckers," he called out cheerfully.

"Well, if it isn't the family dog," I drawled back, grinning. We exchanged our usual nods—our interspecies version of a high five. No point in getting smellier than we had to.

"So what do you think?" he asked, wiping off his hands and joining us out in the wide driveway.

"Good country. Seems like the perfect spot," I answered, nodding over toward the woods. "Are you getting enough business way out here?"

"It's slow," he admitted, glancing sheepishly out at the empty parking spaces Esme had delegated to Emmett during the renovation. "But I'm just getting started, and half my customers so far are from out of town anyway. There's an old run-down body shop in town, so I'm not trying to step on any toes. So," he added, waggling his eyebrows. "Figured it out yet?"

"You're in on this too?"

"Everyone's in on it," he said smugly, wrapping a meaty arm around Renesmee's shoulders as she and Alice caught up. She was buzzing with excitement now, just like Alice was. Even Jacob was eager to get this going. "C'mon, let's hunt." He gave his bride a peck on the cheek and disappeared around the back of the barn, taking off his shirt as he went. Renesmee watched after him for a moment, braiding her hair into a quick rope down her back and tying it off. She seemed happy. I hadn't realized how much I had missed having her, and even Jacob, around. It seemed to suit them well, having their own space like this.

We sprinted for the woods, joined a moment later by the enormous russet-red wolf that had truly earned a place in the Cullen family. Renesmee somersaulted through the air to land on his back, and off they went in their own direction. Alice and I shared a nostalgic smile, glad to see that some things hadn't changed.

Alice didn't feed; she was too worked up. I made short work of a black-tailed deer, just enough to take the edge off in case the surprise involved human company. Instead of burying the corpse I let out a shrill whistle, telling Jacob where I was in case he wanted the meat. He showed up in less than a minute, wolfing down the biggest chunks while Alice and I gave him some space. When Renesmee found us and the carcass was buried, we returned to the farm, taking our time while Jacob went ahead to change. Now that he was farther away, I could really enjoy the mixture of scents that made up the countryside. It was a cloudy afternoon with a strong breeze coming down from the hills.

"Over here," Renesmee said once Jacob was back, steering us toward the town. But we slowed to a stop as soon as we hit the next farm. The strong scent of horse overpowered the other smells, and no wonder; the back of their property was outlined with electrical fencing to keep in the residents. I counted five horses grazing contentedly, and was pretty sure there were at least three more non-human heartbeats coming from the stables.

"They're boarders," Renesmee explained, going off to the right to follow the fencing. The horses perked up as one by one they noticed our presence. Two of them shied almost immediately, heading to the spot farthest away.

Renesmee took a running leap over the fence, motioning for us all to follow her. "It's all right, they're not home."

Two of the three remaining horses got pretty upset to see and smell a line of monsters jumping into their backyard. But I almost didn't care; it just felt so... right, to be standing here inside the fence and the cloud of horsey scent, hearing the soft hoofbeats on the grass and dirt.

"They look well cared for," I murmured, running my hand along a stretch of real railroad tie fence that ran to the main gate. The weathered wood felt familiar. I could never live this close to humans... but what I wouldn't give to have this next door. Maybe this was why Renesmee had chosen this particular property? She had always loved animals in a little-girl kind of way. Her room had gone through all kinds of phases: horse posters, unicorn figurines, intricate butterfly drawings, a dozen stuffed wolves, you name it. She had gone through dozens of pets, half of which had somehow ended up living at the main house. When she was five and visited the Amazon Coven, she had come back and redone her room into a mini-rainforest, complete with wildlife. When she tired of our history lessons she had always pestered me for stories about my adventures with Patch. I had to make most of them up, since I'd run out of real ones so soon. I could definitely see her picking this place just for the horses next door.

Alice tugged at my arm gently. "Let's take a closer look."

I shook my head. "Won't work, darlin'. They're like deer; our scent is just too much for them. If we keep still for a while they might get back to grazing."

We held still for several minutes, and sure enough, the horses timidly came back out. There was one who had stood his ground the whole time, though he had also been the farthest away to begin with. He actually meandered closer as he grazed, seemingly unimpressed by our intrusion.

"That's a brave one," I said softly, pointing him out to the others.

"Yeah," Renesmee said. Then she held out her hand toward him. "Here, Thunder. C'mere boy..."

And that horse _came_ , just as calm as you please. He trotted right up to her and nuzzled her hand like he was looking for a treat. She scratched under his chin, smiling back at me.

I let out a low whistle. "I don't believe it. I knew animals were a little easier around you, but this..."

"Oh, we're old friends," she said with a sparkle in her eye. The feeling of eagerness that had been bouncing around between her, Alice, and Jacob spiked suddenly. "Why don't you come say hello?"

"I wish I could, Ness. But I've tried before."

Alice tugged at my arm again, harder this time. "I know you have. Come on."

I didn't want to break the fence, so I let her pull me forward. Thunder shied a little as we drew closer, but he didn't jump away like he should.

"Take it slow," Jacob suggested.

I didn't understand it. We inched closer, and Thunder was alert and watchful, but he just didn't seem to be afraid at all. Soon I was standing right in front of him, his big dark eyes staring right into mine from under long lashes. I slowly reached up and laid my hand on his neck. He shivered once, flicking his tail, but stayed still. In fact, he seemed to lose interest in me altogether, snorting over toward Renesmee as if to scold her for the treat sham.

"I think he likes you," Alice pronounced with authority. I just shook my head in wonder, stroking the warm, shining coat. He was a little smaller than the Saddlebreds and Walkers that had been so popular back in my day, but he was broad and well-muscled... a glistening seal brown all over, with just one white sock. I dared to reach even higher, and he lowered his head obligingly so I could rub his forehead. His huge heart thudded on without a hitch. I let my fingers tangle in his forelock, scratching him in between the ears like I used to do with Patch. I turned to Renesmee.

"How...?"

She shrugged, but she was beaming inside and out. "I guess when a horse grows up next door to a vampire hybrid and a werewolf, he's kind of over the scent thing. I'll explain more later, Jazz. Why don't you take him for a ride?"

I dropped my hand. "Now that's—"

"Would you stop looking a gift horse in the mouth?" Jacob grunted. "Go get the damn saddle."

"Second one from the right," Renesmee added. "And you'll want to look in the cupboard just overhead."

"It won't work," I insisted.

"Yes it will," Alice laughed, staring out at nothing for a fraction of a second. "And we have all afternoon, and then some." She felt truly confident in whatever impossible vision she had just seen, and full of relief and happiness as she watched me. Unbelievable.

I ran my hand down his neck once more, then gently took hold of the rope bridle. He didn't make a fuss, but he didn't budge, either.

"Stables, Thunder," Renesmee said gently. "Go on now."

It was like magic. He shook his head once in disapproval, but he didn't really try to shake me off. He came easily, nodding and looking back at the other horses. They moved further away as we passed.

I didn't want to take him inside, where my scent would be too much in the still air. As I had expected, the two horses that had been hiding in their stalls took one sniff and headed out to pasture. Still, they hadn't really bolted, and Thunder himself seemed right at home, having followed me halfway inside. I was the one who was overwhelmed by the scent, not him; the air was heavy with molding hay and horse manure... the smells of home. It made me feel like the sixteen-year-old human I had been so very long ago, working in the stables of my own ranch. The saddle was a stranger to me, though. Too many cinches, the skirt was barely there, and I couldn't begin to make sense of the rigging.

"Well, Thunder... it's just you and me. Let's see how you feel about this." The bridle and saddle felt far too light and flexible to my hands, though I supposed that could be due to my strength.

Thunder didn't seem interested. I opened the worn-out cupboard above the empty hook and almost laughed to find a box of sugar cubes. I wondered if the humans really kept this here, or if Renesmee had taken it straight out of my stories. I stashed a handful in my shirt pocket and held one out to Thunder. He lipped it out of my fingers without hesitation.

"Good boy," I murmured, feeling a knot in my throat as I spoke the words. I led him back outside, where the others were watching with big proud smiles, but giving us our space. It was easy after that, save for my unfamiliarity with the saddle and the worry that I'd cinch it too tight. The bridle was easy because there was no bit. I took a deep breath for good luck and mounted.

"Told you," Alice sang under her breath.

Thunder began moving before I even took the reins. My knees did most of the work, urging him into a light trot out onto the grass. We cut a wide circle around the pasture, scaring off his stablemates again. I dug in a little harder on the way back, listening carefully to his pulse to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. He picked up into a gentle canter without a problem, slowing again as we approached the others. Renesmee shoved the gate open, gesturing out toward the hills with a flourish. "It's okay," she assured me. "We've taken him out before."

I shook my head in wonder, urging him forward again. He hesitated inside the gate for just a second, looking back toward the house like a kid about to steal a cookie. Then he took off.

I stopped breathing, feeling lost as I tried to catch the rhythm. For the first time in my life, my vampire body felt heavy and awkward, jarring with the human instincts that were resurfacing. Thunder slowed a bit, fully aware of my difficulty, and scolded me over his shoulder with a long, nickering laugh.

"Give me a minute," I said, patting his neck. "It's been a while. A hundred and fifty-four years." He nickered again, softer this time. "That's very decent of you," I answered politely.

I let him explore the back fields of Renesmee's farm as he liked, alternating between a canter and a running walk. He seemed to know his way around. I held myself as loose as I could, trying to let him show me what he was used to. We gradually fell into a peaceable rhythm together, and when I felt ready, we turned out into the hills. I shortened the reins and leaned forward with more pressure.

"Let's go, Thunder, git up! Let's go! Hup!"

He picked up a bit, uncertain, and then we were flying. I shouted my encouragement, and he whinnied back with joy at the freedom, storming ahead wherever I asked. I finally let out a whoop of sheer exhilaration, still unable to believe this was happening! We zigzagged back and forth for a while before taking on the first hill. He scaled it without effort and ran back down just for fun, then another. It was absolute heaven to feel the wind in my hair without the sound of an engine... to feel the powerful muscles carrying me forward, connecting with good, solid earth in a staccato drumbeat that sounded like music.

Would he carry Alice as well? I had to try. I wanted a little more practice first, though, and we still had a good chunk of afternoon left. We slowed for a rest—he clearly wasn't used to this much climbing—and found a little stream trickling down between the highest hills. Then we found a little path that wound through the trees leading back down to Renesmee's place.

In the years since Alice found me, I had spent innumerable hours in forests all over the world. It always felt so healing to just bury myself out in nature away from everything, in a place that was so unlike where I had spent the first eighty years as a vampire. To just lose myself in a world that knew neither human nor vampire nor machine, soaking in the smells and sounds of life being quietly lived at its own pace. I often spent that time with Alice, and sometimes with my brothers, but also alone. It was a kind of peace that I had never thought to look for as a human, since I had never had any time to go off on my own. And now, I got to share it with the kind of friend I had missed most of all.

We took our time on the path; Thunder didn't seem to have come this way before. We just explored it together, smelling as we went and turning our heads to various sounds. He was a companionable fellow, quick to respond and full of horsey chatter. I found myself chattering back, falling back into the easy give-and-take I remembered having with Patch. I didn't know how often Renesmee and Jacob would like visitors, and I would be at the mercy of the human boarders' schedule, but I would be back. That was a shame about the humans; I could just imagine how the light would cut through the morning mist here in these woods during a morning trot. I'd take whatever I could get, though. However a horse like this had come to be, it was a miracle not to be wasted.

We galloped back down to Thunder's farm, sending his stablemates scattering in anxiety again. I felt an unfamiliar surge of warmth in my chest to see my Alice waiting for me there at the gate, watching me come home to her. She had climbed up onto the swinging end, perched with her arms folded on the rail and a knowing sparkle in her eyes. She knew what came next.

But first I swung down and paid my respects to my new friend, giving him a vigorous rub on his sweaty neck and mumbling the nonsense language that was starting to come back to me. His big, gentle eyes studied me for a long moment, the lashes fluttering in approval when I scratched between his ears again. Then he slammed his mouth into my chest, sniffing out the sugar cubes.

"Hey, okay!" I laughed, giving him his treat. Renesmee and Jacob finally came up.

"Alice said you got lost in the woods," she teased, reaching up to give Thunder some love of her own. "Do you like your surprise?"

I shook my head. "I still can't believe it. This is something I never thought I'd have again." I burst into a huge grin that spread quick through the group, and grabbed my monster niece for a real hug and an outpouring of gratitude. I finally caught a glimpse of the memories she had kept secret earlier: a spindly foal that could only be Thunder, nestled snug in his hay with Renesmee only inches away.

"Even when he was small?" I asked. "He wasn't afraid?"

"He was born a couple weeks after we moved in," Jacob explained. "We actually got the idea from Garrett. He's never tried it himself, but he had heard of a vampire back in his day that raised a horse from birth. You just have to expose them really young and keep it up, and they get used to it. Creatures of habit."

"Still... even if he was used to you two, I don't see how he's not upset by a full vampire."

"That's because he's been around them before," Alice said. "I haven't come around, because I was afraid you'd catch the scent on me, but Emmett and Esme spent a lot of time over here when they were working on the house. Carlisle's been out here twice, and of course Bella and Edward."

"And they brought some of your clothes a couple of times," Renesmee added. "So he could get to know you, too." She looked out at the other horses. "They've gotten used to us, sort of, since we spent so much time over here. So they're all less skittish than most horses would probably be around vampires. But Thunder's yours."

I blinked. "What?"

"Surprise!" she said gaily.

"Didn't you hear me call it a _gift_ horse earlier?" Jacob snorted. "Listen, you can leave him here until you've got something ready back nearer the main house."

"It won't take long," Alice promised, squeezing my arm. "Esme's been working on sketches of stables for months. She's just waiting for you to come back and pick out what you want."

My throat finally closed, full of emotion. I had, gradually, come to feel more a part of the family as the decades had worn on. I knew the love each of them had for me. But to think that they had all planned together to make this happen... My heart ached and swelled as I accepted yet another gift I would never have thought to ask for. I laid a hand back up on Thunder's flank, feeling the warmth and listening to the heavy heartbeat. He was _mine_.

"All right," Jacob said, looking at his watch. "Alice said they'd be home at 8:32, so you've still got an hour and half. Just put everything back where you found it."

Once I found enough voice to mumble another thank you, Renesmee and Jacob went back home. When they looked back I raised my hand in farewell, resting back against the gate and pulling Alice into my arms. She leaned her head back against my chest, and for a little while we just watched Thunder stroll around the yard, unsure what to do with himself.

"Where to, ma'am?" I finally asked, turning her around. She smiled up at me.

"You know. And yes, it'll work."

I would have to ask her, later, what her role had been in all of this. Right now we had a dream to fulfill. I mounted again, reaching down to "help" Alice up. She was actually pretty tense at first; all the visions in the world hadn't prepared her for the feeling of sitting a horse. As far as either of us knew, she had never done it before.

"Hi, Thunder," she whispered, stroking his flank.

"Hold on to me," I cautioned her. "It'd be so easy to break his ribs if we're not careful." She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I picked up one of her hands for a quick kiss. "Ready?"

"Ready."

I dug in and we were off, straight out the gate without hesitation. Alice gasped, wrapping her arms tighter, but she kept herself quiet. This was heaven, to have her with me like this. I'd imagined it so many times, but this was even better. It felt like I was getting a part of myself back, to finally able to let her see this part of me... to have her share in it. The three of us sailed effortlessly through the tall grass toward the hills, rising and falling in silent unison as Thunder's heart and hooves beat on.

Alice was beginning to relax. I grinned to myself and reached back to grab her mid-gallop, swinging her around and forward into my lap. She shrieked in surprise, latching onto me for dear life as Thunder reared up in response to the inhuman sound.

"Steady there!" I fought him back down, holding Alice with one arm as I managed the reins.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Maybe..."

I pulled hard right, aiming for the ridge I had spotted earlier. "Let's see if he can manage this one..." I said mainly to myself. Alice's eyes glazed over for just a second and then she glared lovingly at me, relaxing and letting me hold her bridal-style as we began the rough climb that the Ducati could never have managed. At least the mud was a little wet still; it gave Thunder's hooves something to sink into. We jostled and weaved our way up to the top, finally cresting the last bump and coming to a stop.

"Do you have any idea how incredible this is?" I said softly as we took in the vista below us. The sun was growing big and orange as it sank deeper into the western sky. "To have this again... to have you here with me."

"I can feel it," she said, laying her hand on my heart. I wasn't surprised; my happiness was too big for just one heart at the moment. I held her close and closed my eyes until I felt Thunder begin to shift and stamp impatiently.

I lifted Alice up into sitting astride, this time reaching around her with both arms to hold the reins. She relaxed and leaned back against my chest as we began our descent. Her love burst over me in waves, and mine wrapped around her, binding us together. This was meant to be... it always had been. Just another piece of the destiny she had taught me to believe in.

When we were ready, I laid a kiss on her hair and called out for Thunder to let it loose. Soon we were galloping again, racing down onto the plain and out into the sunset.


End file.
